Freight-car seal



Jan. 12 12126. 1,569,294 w. J. MILLER I FREIGHT CAR SEAL Filed Dec. 26, 1924 mm WILLIAM JQMILLER gdm Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

WILLIAM J. MILLER, OF COLUMBUS, OI-IIOL.

EREI'GHT-CAR SEAL.

Application. filed December 26', 1924. Serial No. 758,163.

To allwlzom z t-may concern.

Be it known that I, lYILLIAM J. MILLER, a citizen of. the United: States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of. Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Freight-Car Seals, of which the following is a specification.

The invention. is. designed more especially for. use in sealing the doors of railroad freight cars but it can be used; in perhaps slightly modified. form. or size in; many other places, as for example, upon crates or meters, the object being to. provide an improved andisimplified construction that will yield indubitable evidence of any unauthorized removal; of o'r-t-ampering with. it.

The invention is embodied in the example herein; shown andv described, the features of novelty being finally claimed.

In the accompanying;drawing Figure 1' is a front view. of the parts: as applied, to a; car beforebending. intosealing position.

Fig-,Q is a similar. view. showing the parts bent into sealing position.

Fig. 3 is a detail in top plan view of the plate member of the sealing device.

.Fig. 4 is an end view of the same.

In the views 5 designates the wire part which comprises a loop portion and two leg portions 6 and 7 one of which (7) is somewhat longer than the other, said longer portion being provided with a retaining eye or stop 8 preferably pecularily marked. The leg portions 6 and 7 are bent to converge toward each other at points 9 thereon equidistant from the middle of the loop portion and above those points the wire of the legs is flattened as shown at 10 and milled or otherwise marked to make their counterfeiting difficult. The outer sides of the wire legs below the points 9 areeach formed with a series of notches 11. Ordinary 13 gauge iron wire can be best used in the manufacture of the wire portion of the seal.

12 designates-the plate member which consists of a piece of sheet metal of suitable form fusible at a low temperature, say at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit. This plate 12 is formed with a flange 13 provided with two perforations 14-1i each of diameter large enough to permit the passage of the wire of the legs but small enough to prevent movement of the plate on the legs above their fiattenedzportions 110 before referred to. The fiange13 has at each of its ends a notch 15. large enough. to receive the wire of a leg when. bent around intoit. To-g-ive strength to the flange the metal of the plate is preferably doubled or folded upon itself a shown. 'lhevcrtical portion of the plate 12 is made with a. hole 16 next its junction with the flange and lines of scoring or indentations 17; leading from said hole and. at an acute angletoithe flange are made on said vertical portiontofacilitate the removal: of the part below said lines by the railroad agent upon the arrival of the car at its destination. llhe hole 16 facilitates said removal and: the seal. after such. removal" is thereby rendered obsolete. Saidremovable portion of; the seal can also hear theinitials of the railroad owning oryusing the can and a serial number identifying the seal and the car upon which it is used.

Inapplyingi the seal to the staples 1818 of; thecar doors19r19 (fractions only of whicln are shown.) the plate portion is first pulled down. on thelonger leg '7. of the wire part where it temporarily lies at the end thereof as illustrated in broken lines Fig. 1, and then the shorter leg 6 passed through the car staples to engage the wire portion with the main loop 5. The plate is then replaced to the position shown in full lines Fig. 1. The legs are then bent (preferably the shorter one first) outward and upward to loop them at their respective perforations and notches in the flange 13 around the intervening metal of the plate as indicated in Fig. 2. From the position shown in Fig. 2 it is impossible to straighten or reversely bend either of the legs with an intent to remove the plate without fracturing the leg at one of the notches 11. It is also impracticable without detection to apply heat (as of a blow torch) to the wire of the leg at said loops for permitting the bending of the legs because if sufficient temperature is used for that purpose it will fuse the flange of the plate and so furnish evidence that it has been tampered with.

It will be observed that all the parts of my seal are visible and the indicia thereon areatall times in plain view for inspection or for the taking ofrecords. 7

The forms of the parts can be changed without departing from the gist of the invention as claimed. The. terms used in the no, till claims are intended to include any equivalent of the parts described within such limits as may be imposed by the prior art.

What I claim is: l. A seal comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop and legs, a

readily fusible portion connecting said legs,

said fusible portion provided with a perforation and a notch, one of said legs being extended through said perforation and being bendable in one direction into said notch to engage said fusible portion and said leg being frangible when bent in the opposite direction to remove it from said notch.

2. A. seal comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop and legs, a readily fusible portion connecting the legs, one of said legs being bendable in one direction to engage said fusible portion and said leg being frangible when bent in the opposite direction to disengage it from the fusible portion.

3. A seal comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop and legs and a readily fusible portion connecting the legs, said legs being each bendable in one direction to engage the fusible portion and frangible when bent in the opposite direction to disengage it from said fusible portion.

1-. A seal comprising, in combination, a vire portion forming a loop with legs each frangible when bent in one direction and a readily fusible member connecting the legs,

said fusible member consisting of a plate having perforations through which the legs are each adapted to be extended and bent in non-frangible direction around portions of the plate.

5. A seal comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop with legs each frangible when bent in one direction and a readily fusible member connecting the legs, said fusible member consisting of a plate having a flange provided with perforations and notches through which the legs are each adapted to be extended and bent in their non-frangible. direction.

(5. A seal comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop and legs having bends therein and a fusible member having perforations through which said legs can be extended and looped around a portion of the fusible member, said legs at their junction with the loop portion being flattened to limit the upward movement of the fusible member thereon.

T. A sea]. comprising, in combination, a wire portion forming a loop and legs having bends therein and a fusible member haw ing perforations through which said legs can be extended and looped around a portion of the fusible member, said legs at their junction with the loop portion being flat tened to limit the upward movement of the fusible member thereon and a retaining stop for said fusible member near the end of one of said legs.

, WILLIAM J. MILLER. 

